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February is heart month a lot of nutrition experts are referring to the advantages of heart-healthy foods. The typical suspects include salmon, dark wine and chocolates. Recently, however, a nutrition professor found the list incomplete and gave it an update. The newest additions? Heart-shaped foods.
“Being red and heart-shaped could be a tip-off that some foods are great for your heart,” said assistant professor of nutrition and dietetics Katie Eliot in a statement. “Many heart-shaped fruits and vegetables are great causes of antioxidants. These compounds act like shields, taking the hit from free radicals that otherwise damage the body and cause heart disease and cancer,” said Eliot of Saint Louis University in St. Louis.
Eliot explains how the following foods serve your ticker well:
- Strawberries and raspberries: Packed with ascorbic acid and polyphenol, an antioxidant that prevents plaque from forming on blood vessels
- Cherries: Contain anthocyanin, which protects arteries and it is high in potassium, which lowers blood pressure
- Tomatoes and red peppers: Full of lycopene, commonly present in many red fruits and veggies, which neutralizes free radicals
- Acorn squash and apples: Full of fiber, which reduces bad cholesterol that can clog your arteries and cause cardiac arrest and stroke
Catherine LaBella, registered dietitian at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill., states that although these food types are helpful, remember to think holistically with regards to your diet plan.
“While red fruits and vegetables give a quantity of health advantages,” says LaBella, “we do encourage patients to consume a variety of different-colored vegetables and fruit. Colorful vegetables in many cases are richer in antioxidants. So aim for a minimum of five servings of vegetables and fruit per day, remembering that red, heart-shaped foods are simply one component of a healthy diet plan.”
